Iloilo province sees spike in COVID-19 cases

By John Noel E. Herrera

Iloilo province reported a spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the past two weeks, according to the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO).

IPHO chief Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon said that Iloilo recorded 52 new cases with one death in a span of two weeks, from April 9 to 22, 2023, which is higher compared to only 34 reported cases from March 26 to April 8, 2023.

“Ang aton COVID-19 cases, sige gid sa pag-increase. Ang aton average daily cases is at approximately four cases in a day,” Quiñon added.

Data from IPHO indicated that 24 Iloilo towns currently have active COVID-19 cases, and the average daily case in the province is currently at 3.71 percent from only 2.42 percent in March 2023.

On Monday, April 23, 2023, Iloilo province recorded four new cases, which include two cases in Oton and one each in Pavia and Santa Barbara.

With the increase in cases, Quiñon urged the public to get vaccinated as it is still the best long-term protection against the virus and its complications.

“So, gina encourage gid naton ang public nga dapat magpabakuna na kay naba ang aton coverage, most likely amu man na nga mataas-taas ang cases because hindi pa gid dako ang naka second booster,” she said.

Quiñon stressed that while the coverage of fully vaccinated individuals (those who finished the primary series of vaccination) in the province is high, the number of individuals who received the booster shots remains low.

Data from IPHO, as of April 17, 2023, showed that out of 1,292,571 or 88.43 percent of the population who finished their primary series of vaccination, only 290,054 individuals, or 19.84 percent have received their first booster shot and 25,216 or 1.73 percent have been inoculated with the second booster shot.

“So dako pa gid ang aton nga kulang, so with the availability of the vaccines, may nag-abot kita nga Pfizer vaccines from DOH, pero gamay lang gid, so gani, while ara pa ang supply kay lately nagapangita para sa booster shots kay hindi makalakat makaagwa sa Pilipinas kung wala naka-booster,” Quiñon added.

Meanwhile, despite the spike in cases, IPHO noted that Iloilo is still under Alert Level 1 as the province’s current healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) and average daily attack rate (ADAR) are low.

“Pero we are happy to note that the province of Iloilo is still at Alert Level 1 classification because ang aton nga average daily attack rate is at 0.18, which is below one percent kag ang aton healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) is 37.52, which below 50 percent,” Quiñon said.

On April 22, 2023, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease released the new COVID-19 Alert Level classifications in the country, with 56 areas placed under Alert Level 1 and 26 other provinces under Alert Level 2 from April 15 to 30, 2023.

Included in the Alert Level 2 in Western Visayas are Negros Occidental and Antique, while placed under Alert Level 1 are Iloilo province, Iloilo City, Aklan, Bacolod City, Capiz, Guimaras; towns of Anini-y, Barbaza, San Jose, Sebaste, Tobias Fornier in Antiqe; and Cadiz City, Candoni, Himamaylan City, Talisay City, Victorias City, Enrique B. Magalona, Ilog, La Carlota City, Murcia, Pontevedra, Pulupandan, Sagay City, San Enrique, Silay City and Valladolid in Negros Occidental.